Count the Days
by WasteNoTime
Summary: Modern AU. Merlin transfers schools and takes liking to a popular student Arthur.


My first attempt at a Merthur story :) I hope you like it.

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**_It was Monday when Merlin saw Him for the first time_**

Being a new kid in a school where everyone already knew everyone was a scary experience. The new junior transfer Merlin knew that much before transferring schools but such knowledge didn't make his life any easier.

It was already the middle of November so when the teenager entered the school he wasn't surprised to see small groups of students chatting among themselves. He got a feeling that making new friends might be more difficult than he had thought it would be.

After the meeting with the headmaster's secretary Merlin made his way to his new locker. He hadn't brought anything to decorate it with just yet but soon he would make it more personal.

Checking his timetable the teen walked down the corridor hoping that he was going to the right direction. The boy looked up from the paper and saw the most beautiful boy walking right towards him. His blonde hair were styled with just a tad of gel and his bright blue eyes shone as he laughed when the girl he was walking with said something to him

Merlin swallowed thickly as the couple walked past him.

**_It was Tuesday when Merlin found out His name_**

The following day the new kid was decorating his locker during the lunch break, making sure to nicely put everything together, most importantly the photos and a couple of postcards that had to stand out as they were the most important.

When the lunch break was almost over, more and more people showed up in the corridor, busying themselves with books and some other stuff. The boy from the day before was not an exception and Merlin was surprised to see that his locker was not far from his. He just didn't know if it was a pleasant surprise or not.

"Don't even think about it," a voice came from behind and Merlin turned around to see a short girl standing in front of him with a slightly judgmental smile.

"I'm sorry, what?" the boy asked confused.

"I saw who you were looking at and I'll repeat – don't even think about it," she said. "Those two are Arthur and Morgana Pendragons. They are like a royalty at this school so it will save you some heartbreak to know that you are neither his or hers type."

"I… I mean… I wasn't thinking…" Merlin stuttered but it only made the girl's smirk widen.

"I won't tell anyone," she winked at him. "My name is Guinevere."

"Merlin," the boy smiled at her dumbfounded.

**_It was Wednesday when Merlin finally talked to Him _**

The first week passed with Guinevere helping Merlin to find his way around the school and the city as well since he had just moved and didn't know any places. They bonded over similar interests and the girl was kind enough to not bring up the Pendragons again. However, despite her warnings quite often Merlin caught himself daydreaming about the boy or staring at him when he was at his locker. It dawned to him that he was crushing on the handsome teenager.

Wednesday began horribly for Merlin. His alarm didn't go off and his mother didn't check on him so when he finally woke up, he was already late and since it took him some time to get ready and drive to school, it was halfway into the first period when he finally ran into the school. He rounded the corner and almost ran into someone.

"Whoa, what's on fire?" the person laughed and Merlin looked up to see Arthur smiling at him.

"I… I'm sorry, I'm late," he said, far from smoothly.

"Then don't let me keep you," he said with the same broad smile.

"Yeah," Merlin blushed and ran towards his classroom.

**_It was Thursday when Merlin got a hug from Him_**

The following day Merlin parked his car in his usual spot in the parking lot and was walking towards the school building when something caught his eye. He squatted to get a better look and saw that it was a golden locket. He opened it to see two small photos – one of a baby and one of a beautiful woman. The boy closed it and put into his pocket. On his way he ran into Guinevere and totally forgot about his plan to go to the lost and found.

After the last period Merlin was standing by his locker, putting the unnecessary books into it, his friend waiting for him. Before he closed it, the boy ran his hands over his pockets to see if there was anything in there that should be left in the locker as well and for the first time that day he remembered the locket. The teen took it out of the pocket and Guinevere gasped.

"Where did you get Arthur's locket? I heard he was looking for it," she said. "He was pretty upset to have lost it."

"I found it in the parking lot this morning," Merlin responded. "The chain is broken, that's why he lost it."

"Give it back as soon as you can," the girl suggested. "Otherwise he will go crazy."

"Do you know where he might me?"

"I saw him talking to Mr. White. Oh wait, you don't know, who he is."

Merlin thought for a second. "I'm sure he will come to his locker so I'll wait for him," he decided.

"Suit yourself," Guinevere shrugged. "I'll go home then. See you tomorrow."

"Bye," Merlin said and without anything better to do began to play with his phone while waiting.

Five minutes later he heard steps and finally Arthur showed up.

"Hi," he said to Merlin and walked past him.

"Wait a second," the boy stopped him. "I found this locket in the morning and my friend told me it was yours. So, here."

He didn't see it coming but once the locket was in the other boy's hand, Merlin felt two strong arms pull him into a strong hug. "Oh my god, thank you so much! I've been looking for it everywhere!"

Finally Arthur released him. "It was in the parking lot. You may want to check out the chain," he said, his face deep red.

"I will," the blonde boy smiled. "Thank you."

**_It was Friday when Merlin was assigned as His lab partner_**

Chemistry was Merlin's favourite subject at school. Before the transfer, in his old school, he always liked it but now it was even better because of two reasons – one, Arthur was taking the same class; two, their teacher Mr. 'just call me Gaius' was the only teacher he actually liked.

On the last day before the Christmas break Merlin found himself in the classroom set up with various vials and equipment. All students waited excitedly for their teacher to come as they expected the class to be fun.

Gaius finally entered the class being five minutes late. "I'm too old for this," he mumbled and stood in front of the students. "Right, let's begin the class. Since it's the last day before a glorious break I thought we should have some fun. So, today we will be growing crystals. Except you, Mr. Lewis, since you could probably set water on fire."

The class snickered and Gaius went to the front desk. He took a piece of paper he had on it with a list of names.

"I paired you up according to your grades from the last quiz," he explained. "I will ask the stronger students to help their partners. Don't do everything by yourself, share the amount of work equally. So, I will call the names and rearrange your seating."

He went through the list of names when Merlin heard his own being mentioned. "Merlin and… Arthur."

As Merlin had been sitting alone in that class Arthur went up to him and took the seat next to him. "I take it you are the smart kid since I got a pretty low mark for the last quiz," the teen laughed.

"Um, I did pretty well," he said humbly. "I just really like chemistry. Just by mixing a few ingredients you can create magic! You can cure someone or kill them. It's amazing. Like today we are going to mix a few things and after some time the liquid will turn into crystals. That's really cool."

"It is," Arthur laughed.

"I'm sorry, I get overly excited about stuff I like," Merlin apologised.

"No, it's cute… you are cute," Arthur said with a wink.

**_It was Saturday when Merlin was asked out on a date by Him_**

Christmas was approaching quickly and Merlin still had no present for his mother. He was always bad at picking gifts but that year was particularly difficult since he ran out of the ideas. Websites with gift ideas didn't help much and the teenager decided to raid the shopping centre, going into each and every store even though some of them couldn't possibly have anything suitable for his mother (like men's wear shops).

The boy was getting tired when he heard a familiar voice behind him. "Hey, Merlin, last minute shopping?" Arthur asked and Merlin saw two bags in his hands.

"You too?" he asked.

"Yeah, had to pick up some stuff and buy a ring for Morgana," the boy explained. "I don't know why I even bother. I know she won't like it and after Christmas she will go to the store to exchange it into something better."

"You could just give her cash or get her a gift certificate," Merlin suggested.

"Ha, you think I haven't tried that? She said it was too impersonal…"

"That sucks," Merlin laughed. "At least you know what she wants."

"No luck with your shopping?"

"I'm standing here empty-handed," the teenager pointed out.

Arthur laughed. "Yeah, I see. So, I should get going. Good luck with your shopping."

"You too. And Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Arthur said and Merlin turned to leave. "Wait, um, do you have any plans for Wednesday afternoon?"

"No, why?"

"I was thinking maybe we could meet up? Have coffee maybe?" Arthur asked hopefully.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, coffee sounds great," Merlin said, hardly able to hide his surprise.

"Wednesday, three pm at 'Starbucks, okay? It's a date," the other boy said and walked away.

**_It was Sunday when Merlin got his first kiss from Him_**

And many more kisses.

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AN: Let me know what you think :)


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